We recently had a chance to interview the popular author Joydip Kanjilal on a wide range of trending programming concepts such as DevOps, Entity Framework, and .NET Core. Moreover, he also took few time to answer our queries about the recent mass layoffs by several India based IT companies.

Can you exactly tell us the real meaning of DevOps?

DevOps is a paradigm shift – a new collaborative culture that companies can take advantage of to reduce costs and increase productivity. In other words, DevOps is a cultural, process, and an organizational shift and embracing this change will need a strong leadership in any organization.

What will happen if there were no DevOps?

Without DevOps, you might be increasing the risk of delays on your projects. In adopting DevOps, application deployment will become faster and you can hit the market early.

What is the relevance of Entity Framework in .NET?

Entity Framework is an ORM from Microsoft that can work in the managed environment and helps you tie together the data in your database with the objects in your application, by abstracting the object model of an application from its relational or logical model.

Will there be any performance enhancements if we adopt Entity Framework?

Not actually. Entity Framework was not developed with performance as one of its objectives in mind. The intent of EF is to provide you an abstraction of the object model of an application from its relational or logical model. ADO.NET is and always will be the fastest way to store and retrieve data when you are working in .NET. However, the recent versions of EF have been optimized to provide you improved performance.

What is the advantage of .NET Core?

.NET Core is a new cross-platform .NET stack from Microsoft that can support many different platforms, i.e., Windows, Mac and Linux. It is also open source, lean and modular.

Is it necessary to implement Test Driven Development in the software development cycle?

It depends. It’s all about the mindset. If you can build an application that contains a set of unit-testable components, TDD is the right choice for you. TDD is a great practice but there are times when your project’s constraints and practicality must be given preference.

What is the relevance of Agile computing?

Agile is a methodology that gives you agility in the SDLC process – it provides you increased value, better visibility and cost control, and adaptability.

Can you share with us why companies are facing problems when it comes to employee retention?

The companies need to have a proper, planned way to retain employees. A positive work environment can strengthen an employee’s commitment to the organization. Recognition, flexible work arrangements, work-life balance, employee engagement, health and safety, communication, workplace diversity, etc., include a few examples of strategies that the employers can focus on when building employee retention strategy plans. These are imperative to retain employees in an organization.

Will the massive layoffs in the IT industry affect the job prospects of future students?

Yes it will but not for those who are talented, passionate and have learn-ability in them. The trend clearly shows that there would not be any room for mediocrity ever in this industry. If you don’t have the right skills or the ability to adapt to new skills and technologies like Machine Learning, Data Science, etc., you would not be able to survive.

The industry is flooded with professionals who aren’t fit enough to be part of it. And, the need of the hour is building the fundamentals right. If I have my fundamentals strong, have passion for learning new skills, why should I ever be worried of getting a job? One should have the potential and confidence to attain a place in career where there is no competition. If you are competing, you are just competing with time – you just need to get your work done on time. And, that’s it!

Imagine, a 50 year old programmer has been laid off by Infosys. Will he get a suitable job anywhere else?

It all depends on whether the individual has the right potential to stay ahead of the race. I don’t feel age is at all a bar – if I have the potential, I have no reason to be worried about being laid off or getting a new job. If not, for a professional at this age, getting a job will be extremely difficult if not impossible.

I would like to conclude with what Confucius once said: “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your pull potential…these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”

Anand Narayanaswamy is the editor-in-chief of Learnxpress. He was a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for a period of 9 years. He is a ASPInsider based in Trivandrum, Kerala State, India. Anand is the author of Community Server Quickly published by Packt Publishing.